Rocky Anderson should run with Green Party

Rocky Anderson is greeted as he arrives to accept the Justice Party nomination for president of the United States in Salt Lake City, Friday, Jan. 13, 2012.

If there's one thing I find puzzling about former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson's run for president as a third-party candidate, it is this: Why did he feel the need to start a new third party from scratch when there's already a well known liberal progressive party in the Green Party?

Wouldn't it make more sense for Anderson to run on the Green Party ticket, especially when in the past he has openly endorsed Green Party candidates such as Ralph Nader for president and Bob Brister, who in 2006 ran for Congress against Jim Matheson?

The Green Party is already well established with websites and membership throughout the country. They have had presidential candidates each year since 1996 and have also had a few of their candidates elected to office in places such as California, Oregon, Maine and the District of Columbia.

I have studied the platforms of both the Green Party as well as Anderson's new Justice Party, and their strong similarities again make me wonder why Anderson has chosen to make what would have been an already uphill fight for the White House only that much harder.